31 July , 201521 December , 2017 - Sarah 4 Comments

Me & Mine: A Family Portrait (July 2015)

This month saw Toby turn two, and we had visits from all his grandparents to celebrate which was lovely. I was planning on getting a photo of the whole extended family but some how it didn’t happen! Other than the birthday weekend we haven’t really done anything very exciting. I’ve been struggling with my hips and pelvis the last few weeks so I’ve not really been up for any big trips or even a walk to the park some days. Most weekends have managed to include a trip somewhere for coffee and cake though which has helped!

I wasn’t sure if we would even make it to the end of July as a family of three but I’m still pregnant and so it looks like August is going to be the month that our three become four…for now we are three and a very big bump! (Excuse my weird smile – I was getting Toby to say cheese, which also gets him to look at the camera.)

31 July , 20152 December , 2015 - Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 30/52 (2015)

Another quiet week of just getting through the days and waiting for a baby to arrive.

Toby has been settling in well to his new room at nursery with all the other 2 and 3 year olds. I think he’s still getting used to being the youngest though after being one of the big kids in the baby room for quiet a while now. We’ve had a couple of incidents of him biting other kids this week which isn’t ideal. It seems to be when someone wants to share whatever he is playing with at the time – he’s not quite got the hang of sharing yet, and because his language is still developing too he just gives the other child a bite instead. Nursery are taking him away and explaining that he shouldn’t do it, and we are trying to speak to him about it at home too but mostly I think we just need to hope he stops doing it as his speech develops. His language is coming on really quickly now though. He has been building his vocabulary over the last couple of months and is now trying to put words together more often, He even said ‘my milk’s all gone’ the other night which I think is the longest coherent sentence we’ve had out of him yet! My only real worry is that things are disrupted too much for him by the arrival of the new baby. I’m hoping that keeping him at nursery for now will help give him a routine and sense of normality when the chaos descends at home!

Anyway, to this week’s Living Arrows picture… This one is only an iPhone snap, Toby really wanted to carry his own bag into nursery this morning, even though it’s really heavy with all his nappies for the day. I reckon he looks super-cute though!

31 July , 2015 - Sarah 1 Comment

From poppy seed to pumpkin: 38 weeks pregnant

I’ve made it to 38 weeks pregnant which means I can have my home birth if I want to! I’m all booked to stay at home and all the equipment has been delivered (and so far we’ve resisted having a go on the gas and air!) but to be honest I’m still not entirely sure that I will stay at home when it comes to it. Although I would like to give birth at home it just depends on when I go into labour and what that means for who will be looking after Toby. If it’s during the day when he’s at nursery then it should be OK but if I need my mum and dad to look after him then it will be much easier for them to do that at our house than have to take him out somewhere or take him to their caravan. The plan really then is just to wait and see and make a decision that will be best for all of us when the time comes. I’ve got everything gathered together for giving birth at home but also packed bags for hospital so in theory I’m ready for anything!

I’m really ready for this baby to come soon though. The last couple of weeks I’ve been really struggling with pain in my hips and pelvis. It’s eased a little bit in the last couple of days but walking is still slow and often painful. I’ve been getting some crampy pains in my back and low down in my bump on and off for the last week too. That’s how my labour with Toby started but these pains just seem to come and go. The baby is definitely head down though and when the midwife checked today he was 3/5 engaged so it seems things are heading in the right direction. Everything else is looking good too – so now it’s just a waiting game….

I had a little company in this week’s bump shot! I’m looking forward to being able to carry him a bit more easily soon!

30 July , 2015 - Sarah 3 Comments

Help! My toddler suddenly hates the bath!

Up until about a month ago Toby was loving the bath. He would happily sit there playing with his toys and we’d have the bubble machine going…in fact the only drama we had was getting him out again!

Then one day he suddenly decided he hated the bath. He was screaming and shouting, he refused to sit down and was trying to climb out. We tried tempting him with toys and bubbles and all the things he had previously loved but nothing worked. In the end we just had to do a quick hair wash with him stood there screaming and then get him out.

We thought maybe it was a one off. Toby only usually has a bath twice a week – any more and his skin starts to dry out. So next time he was due a bath we tried again. Same thing. He seemed genuinely upset. It wasn’t just a tantrum but almost as if he was scared of something.

Since then we’ve tried various things; I’ve tried getting in the bath with him, trying to take him in the shower, only putting a little bit of water in the bath, trying in the morning instead of before bed when he’s tired… but nothing is working so far. And so for now we are just giving him a flannel wash most of the time and then once a week standing him in the bath and using the shower to do his hair as quickly as possible and get him out again while he screams the whole time. It’s not ideal but we can’t just not wash him!

The only thing I can think of that might possibly have triggered this is that the last happy bath we had, not long after he got in, Toby started saying ‘a poo, a poo’. He hadn’t done a poo, and he seemed to forget about it and carry on playing happily for the rest of that bath – the problems only came next bath time. I wonder whether he needed a poo, and is now scared of doing one in the bath?

He still loves playing with water (as evidenced by him going through three sets of clothes at nursery quite regularly), it just seems to be the bath that is the problem.

We’ll keep persevering and hope that like most things this is just a phase but if anyone has been through this with their little one and has any ideas we haven’t tried yet then I would love to hear them!

28 July , 20157 October , 2020 - Sarah 2 Comments

Preparing for baby number 2

With the arrival of baby number 2 imminent I finally feel like we’re prepared – well in a practical sense at least; I still don’t think I’m mentally prepared to have a newborn in the house again! We haven’t had as much to buy this time round with having a lot of the things we need from when Toby was born. We haven’t had to decorate a nursery, or buy lots of new clothes but there are a few things that we’ve needed this time round that either we didn’t have with Toby or we have since sold on so I thought I’d share with you a few of the things we’ve done to prepare for baby number 2.

Wearing

When Toby grew out of his baby clothes I passed them all on to my friend Claire who has twin boys three months younger than Toby. After a mammoth sorting session a couple of months ago I now have most of them back again (plus lots of extra) and the rest are packed up ready to be sold at some point. I have bought a few new things for this baby partly because I think it’s only fair he gets at least some things that aren’t hand me downs, but mostly because tiny baby clothes are just irresistible to a hormonal pregnant lady!

The main thing that I have bought new for this baby to wear that Toby didn’t have is newborn cloth nappies. I knew I wanted to use cloth nappies with Toby but didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself in the early days so he didn’t start wearing cloth until he was about 7 weeks old and he went straight into birth to potty nappies. With this baby I know I want to use cloth as soon as possible and as I’m already used to them and in a routine with washing it won’t be too much extra work to use them from the early days. I’ve got a selection of newborn nappies to try; some Tots Bots Teenyfits and Bamboozle size 1, Bambooty Easy Dry newborn, Close Pop-in newborn and finally Bambino Mio miosoft prefolds and covers. They’re all pre-washed ready to go and I can’t wait to try them! I have bought a couple of packs of eco-disposables for the first couple of days but hopefully once the dreaded newborn treacle meconium has gone we’ll be ready to start with cloth. I’m hoping the newborn nappies will last 3 or 4 months and then I can sell them on, and who knows, by then Toby might have started potty training! And if not, well then I’ll just have to add a few more nappies to our birth to potty collection!

Sleeping

When Toby was born he slept in a crib which we were kindly lent by my godmother. It was lovely but the stand was quite high (and our bed is very low) meaning I had to get out of bed entirely just to check on Toby in the night. He also grew out of the crib quite quickly and was soon waking himself up hitting the sides. On top of that, because of his reflux, Toby was a very noisy sleeper. He used to grunt and snuffle all night and even though he was asleep I would be kept awake with his noises. All this meant we moved him into his own room when he was about 6 weeks old. We put the crib basket in his cot for a week or two and then he has been in his cot ever since.

This baby is going to have to stay in our room for much longer. The boys will have to share a room eventually but as Toby has only just started consistently sleeping all night at the age of two I don’t want to do anything to disturb that for as long as I can! Knowing this I wanted somewhere for the baby to sleep that would fit it our bedroom but also last longer than a Moses basket. I was also keen on the idea of a co-sleeper crib so I will be able to feed or even just see the baby without having to get out of bed. Due to the style of our bed frame, which sticks out quite a long way from the mattress, we were a bit limited in our options so after some research we decided to go for the Chicco Next2Me Crib. This crib can be used either as a co-sleeper or as a stand alone crib. It has a mesh side which can be zipped down for easy access. I also liked that it can be tilted to help babies with reflux, we had to use books and towels and all sorts to tilt Toby’s crib! The Next2Me is also significantly bigger than a Moses basket or some of the other cribs on the market so I’m hoping it will last until the baby is at least 6 months old.

Another thing I’ve bought for this baby which will hopefully help his sleeping is a Gro-Snug from the Gro Company. We used grobags with Toby but they aren’t suitable until the baby is a bit bigger. The Gro-Snug looks fab – it can be used as a swaddle but also converts to a sleeping bag for those first few months. I can’t wait to give it a try!

Travelling

The big investment for this baby was a new pushchair. Although Toby walks really well now he still can’t walk that far without getting tired and there are also plenty of times when having him contained in a pushchair makes life easier for everyone! Some people suggested we might manage with just a single pushchair and a buggy board, or for Toby to go in the pushchair and carry the baby in a sling. At the moment I don’t think we could trust Toby to stay on a buggy board, when he gets it in his head he wants to go somewhere it is pretty hard to stop him! I’m sure a sling will work and we will use that option sometimes too but I really wanted a pushchair that I could use for both boys (and when it came down to it I just wanted a new pushchair!). After a lot of research we decided to go with the new 2015 UPPAbaby Vista. I really liked that it came with the carry cot included so the only thing we need to buy extra was the adaptors to convert it from a single to a tandem, and they were only £40. There was the added bonus that the car seat we already have from when Toby was little will fit on the chassis too. Most importantly the Vista is just as good as a single as it is as a tandem. We’ve been using with Toby for a good few months now and it’s great. We’ll have to see if Toby still needs to use the pushchair once the new baby grows out of the carry cot. If he does we’ll need to buy an additional seat unit but I liked that we don’t have to make that decision until we need to.

As I mentioned, the infant carrier we used in the car with Toby fits on the new pushchair so that was one expense we didn’t have this time round. I just put it back in the car yesterday and now whenever Toby gets in he points at it and says ‘baby’ – too cute!

Playing

We sold the baby gym and bouncer chair that we had with Toby. They were both OK but the baby gym took up loads of room and the chair was a bit basic. I’m not planning on replacing the baby gym for the moment. We have another play mat that the baby can use and I’m sure with Toby around there’ll be plenty to entertain him. I have just ordered a new baby bouncer though. This one from Babymoov is more padded than the old one we had – when Toby first started using the old chair we had to prop him up and support him with towels so hopefully this one will avoid that problem. The other feature I liked was the adjustable back rest. I’m hoping this will mean we will get a bit more use out of the chair – Toby grew out of the old one fairly quickly as he wanted to be more upright as he got older so this new seat should help with that too.

I haven’t bought any new toys for this baby either (apart from an soft elephant with a bell inside which will be Toby’s present to his little brother). We’ve still got all Toby’s toys and he has so many that they are all still in great condition. I’m sure we’ll get a few more gifts this time round too!

Feeding

I didn’t have a very successful breastfeeding experience with Toby but I am determined to give it another try this time. One thing I am getting this time is an electric breast pump from Ardo (which I will be reviewing on the blog in a month or two). I had a manual pump last time but it was rubbish and I hardly used it. We ended up combination feeding with Toby from very early on and I’m hoping that if we have to do the same again this time I can top up with expressed milk rather than use formula. Having said that we still have all the bottles and sterilising equipment we used with Toby so if we do need to go down that road I just need to buy some new teats for the bottles.

I’ve also bought lots of new muslins! I got a set of Rainbow muslins from Faye & Lou before Toby was born and he still uses them as his comforters now so I wanted to get some new ones, and I’ve gone for patterned ones this time, so I can use them for all the usual things with the newborn without Toby thinking I’m taking his comforters away!

I think that’s most things covered! Although we could probably have got away with buying even less this time round I knew there were some things that we didn’t have before that will (hopefully) make life easier this time round…and some things that I just wanted because I think this baby boy deserves at least some new things of his own! What do you think – is there anything I’ve forgotten? Did you end up buying lots more for your second (or third, or fourth…) babies or did you make do with what you already had?

**I have not been compensated in any way by the brands mentioned in this post, however there are affiliate links which may earn me a small income but will not cost you any more to use. As always, all opinions are my own.

23 July , 20152 December , 2015 - Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 29/52 (2015)

Another Living Arrows post – it seems like this is all I do on the blog lately but I do like the (sort of) weekly updates that it gives me the chance to write. This week we got out the play dough after nursery for a quiet activity that Toby could do whilst winding down towards bedtime. I bought him a big variety pack of play dough for his birthday but I think for the moment we are just going to get out a couple of colours at a time, play with them until they’ve had it and then get out a couple more colours, because they’re inevitably going to end up all mixd together anyway!

Toby loves his ‘day dough’, as he calls it and will happily sit and play with it for much longer than he concentrates on anything else. The only trouble we have is that he doesn’t want to put it away, and also starts asking for it as soon as we come down stairs in the morning!

I love the concentration on his face in this week’s picture…

20 July , 201513 October , 2016 - Sarah 1 Comment

Summer garden fun with #asdaoutdoors

It seems like summer has already been and gone here in Scotland; we had some lovely weather in June but July so far has mostly been grey, wet and windy. I’m hoping we get some nicer weather a bit later in the summer, we do sometimes get quite a nice September so here’s hoping.

Despite the not that inspiring weather we have been trying to let Toby play in the garden more this year. We don’t have the most child-friendly garden – that’s definitely something we need to think about when it comes to moving house in the not too distant future. There is a bit of space to play though and this year we’re hoping to get a bit more use out of it. Toby likes to just run around and look at the flowers (while his dad tries to stop him pulling them all up!) He likes to help with watering the plants too with his trusty watering can.

We didn’t really have any toys for the garden until recently though. As you might have seen from Toby’s birthday post his Grandma and Grandad bought him a slide this year which we’ve already managed to get out a few times. We were also lucky enough to be sent some other things from the Asda Outdoors range for Toby to enjoy this summer too.

A couple of weeks ago we had a warm enough day to get the sand and water table out (although for the moment I am being mean mummy and we’re only having water because it doesn’t make as much mess as sand!). Toby really enjoyed playing in the water and once he’d figured out what to do with the water mill section in the middle he stood there for ages pouring water in the top and saying ‘oh wow!’ This table is a great size for him and I like that it comes with lids for each section so you can cover it and and leave it outside if you want. With our very unpredictable weather though we’ve been keeping it in the garage when it’s not being used so we don’t end up with it blowing away!

The other thing we got from Asda was this 2 in 1 balance bike and scooter. I really liked that you could lower the handle bar, add a seat and you had a balance bike but that it could also be used as a scooter when Toby gets a bit bigger. When we first got it out Toby wasn’t too sure about it but with his dad holding on to the seat at the back he started to get a bit more confident. I don’t think it’ll take him too much practice before he’s happily wheeling himself around the place!

I really hope we do get some more better weather as the summer goes on so we can all make the most of the garden. I know Toby definitely feels better after some fresh air and a run around so fingers crossed for some more sun before the summer is out!

**Disclaimer: We were sent the sand and water table and scooter in return for this post. All opinions are my own.

18 July , 2015 - Sarah 3 Comments

From poppy seed to pumpkin: 36 weeks pregnant

I turned 36 weeks pregnant yesterday, the baby is the size of a honeydew melon although he feels a lot bigger than that sometimes! The last few weeks have been quite tough at times. I’ve been trying to get organised for this little one’s arrival, and prepare for Toby’s 2nd birthday last weekend. I think I’ve been doing too much some days and my body is definitely letting me know about it! Last week (after a rather expensive trip to IKEA!) I got the drawers and wardrobe sorted in Toby’s room so I could put all the baby clothes and newborn nappies away, and then on Friday I reorganised our kitchen storage to make some more room and finally clear the windowsill of the ever-growing collection of plastic plates, bowls and cups! I also spent most of the day on Friday baking Toby’s birthday cake and by Friday night my hips were in agony and I could barely pull myself off the sofa and up the stairs to bed! Lesson learned I think, I’ve definitely been taking it a bit easier this week.

I’ve had to take it easier anyway because I’ve been feeling rubbish since Tuesday. Toby is choked with a cold and I think I must have the same virus but rather than a snotty nose and cough like him I’ve had a pretty much constant headache and have been feeling quite flu-ey – either shivering and can’t get myself warm or like last night in bed and sweating buckets all night. I’ve been getting lots of sleep; I’m so glad Toby has still been sleeping well and is at nursery so I’ve been able to get some naps in too. I did phone the maternity assessment unit at the hospital yesterday just to double check that the persistent headache was nothing to be worried about but they agreed it was most likely just a virus as I don’t have any other symptoms that could point to pre-eclampsia or anything more worrying. It was good to get some reassurance though! I’m actually feeling much better today so I’m hoping that I’m over whatever it was anyway.

The little one is still wriggling about a lot. It’s much bigger movements now, more like rolls than anything else although I do get the odd kick or poke too. He’s been getting lots of hiccups in the last few weeks too. Toby was the same and I’ve heard that it can be a sign that the baby will have reflux. There’s no actual evidence to suggest it’s true though so I’m hoping this one isn’t going to suffer like Toby has. Mostly though the hiccups just drive me bonkers! They can last for ages and if you’ve never experienced them just imagine someone poking you in the stomach every half a second for half and hour and you might get an idea of how annoying it is!!

The midwife is coming on Sunday to complete all the paperwork for the home birth – eek! I have a feeling though that this baby will be making an early arrival, just like Toby did. I think I have to get to 38 weeks before I can stay at home so we’ll have to wait and see I guess. I did have another organising (maybe nesting!) burst yesterday and built the crib (we got a Chicco Next 2 Me co-sleeper that I’ll write about at some point soon) and packed a hospital bag just in case. I think my bump has dropped and I’m starting to feel pressure and twinges in my undercarriage, for want of a better term! I had a few Braxton Hicks yesterday too. I know it could still be weeks and weeks yet but I just have this feeling that we might see a baby in the next couple of weeks…I guess we’d better make a decision about a name sooner rather than later!

17 July , 20152 December , 2015 - Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 28/52 (2015)

With my second Living Arrows post this week we are back on track (although still a few days behind) and I don’t have much to say. After the excitement of his birthday at the weekend Toby has spent this week full of a cold, although miraculously still sleeping well. He seems to have pretty much dropped his nap all together now, which is a bit sad for us but over all is much better. Instead of bedtime lasting up to two hours and involving me sitting on Toby’s bedroom floor for ages to avoid him screaming his head off, he is now going to bed without too much trouble. I’ve still been sitting outside his door for 10 minutes or so just to make sure he’s settled but I’m leaving before he’s fully asleep and most nights he is sleeping from between 7 and 7:30 pm until about 8:30 am or even after 9 am on some days! And to be honest, if that’s what we get with no nap then I’ll give up my couple of hours in the afternoon (which only affects us at the weekend anyway because he’s still at nursery during the week) and take that as a win! Of course we’ll still let him have a nap if he needs it – on Tuesday he woke up at 6 am with his cold so he had a two hour nap at nursery in the afternoon, he was still fine at bedtime though. I think being up early and a bit poorly just meant he needed some extra sleep.

Anyway, this week’s photos are another couple from Toby’s birthday on Saturday. I couldn’t choose between his happy face on the slide or that cake picture so we’ve having both…

15 July , 20152 July , 2016 - Sarah 4 Comments

Toby is two years old!

Two years old! How on earth did we get here? My baby is well and truly a toddler now and yet I can remember his birth as if it was yesterday.

We had a lovely day on Saturday for Toby’s birthday. All four of his grandparents came up from England and my friends Claire and Dave came round with their twins who are three months younger than Toby. It was the same people we had there for his birthday last year and everyone was saying that it didn’t seem like a year had passed!

We didn’t actually get Toby many presents. He is still only two after all and I’d rather hold off on loads of presents until he is old enough to understand what is going on. I knew he would be getting plenty of things from friends and relatives too so our present to him was really trying to make sure he had a fun day (and we’ve also booked to go and see In The Night Garden Live in September which will be a birthday treat!).

Everyone came round in the morning and although the boys were all a little shy at first they soon got stuck in to playing with all Toby’s toys. His new Duplo from his uncle and auntie was definitely a hit (as much with my dad as the kids I think) but as predicted Toby was most enjoying his massive number 2 helium balloon!

We had a buffet lunch which the boys all seemed to enjoy eating on the living room floor.

And then it was time for the big reveal of the rainbow cake that I had spent most of the previous day baking. I was pleased with how it looked from the outside but until I cut into it I wasn’t really sure how it was going to have turned out. Thankfully it looked awesome!

I was very happy with it, and everyone else seemed suitably impressed. It might have cost me over £25 for the ingredients (mostly because I had to buy all the different food colours which were £2.80 a pot) but I reckon it was worth it. It tasted pretty good too! Toby was a bit confused by the candles at first but he always blows on things if you tell him they are hot so we explained the candles were hot and he managed to blow them out eventually (with a bit of help from me!).

We split one slice of cake between all three boys and they soon got stuck in, although even that was a bit too much for Toby in the end. He definitely seemed to be enjoying it though.

After Claire, Dave and the twins had gone home we got out Toby’s present from his Grandma and Grandad; a new slide for the garden! Toby loves the slide and spent ages just going up and down. Hopefully he’ll get plenty of use out of it this summer.

After playing for a while in the garden we came back in and Toby had fun playing with a couple of the new toys his Nana had got him too. He loved the magnetic fishing game, and the Magnadoodle has been a definite hit too.

Everyone else headed home about four o’clock and after some tea we took Toby up to bed – he was fast asleep within minutes! He did so well throughout the day, and without a nap too! He’s not always great with lots of people around, and it can take him a little while to get used to seeing his grandparents with not getting to see them that often but he was brilliant all day really. He’s definitely growing up fast. He’s got lots of words now, and seems to learn new ones every day. We’ve still got a way to go before he can really communicate properly but we’re getting closer and closer. I’m sure the next year will fly by again and it won’t be long before I’m saying ‘Toby is three – how did that happen??’

Toby Goes Bananas

A family lifestyle blog

Month: July 2015